Those are the plays Texas A&M failed to make Saturday in its Big 12 Conference-opening 36-31 loss to No. 15-ranked Oklahoma State at Kyle Field. And those were just a tiny sampling of the miscues holding the Aggies back from turning the corner and becoming a league factor once again.
"We just have to make the plays when they're there," said A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson, who went 22-of-42 for 273 yards and two touchdowns. "Just concentrate and focus a little bit more - I think we're really close to where we want to be, but we're not there yet. So we just need to go out this week and try to correct those things.
"We're close to where we want to be, but at the end of the day you've got to execute, you've got to make those plays to win and we didn't do that today."
In doing so the Aggies (3-2) blew a golden opportunity to start conference play with a victory against the Cowboys (4-1, 1-0), who were without All-America receiver Dez Bryant - ruled ineligible by the school this week for lying to the NCAA about contact he made with former NFL player Deion Sanders - and running back Kendall Hunter, out with an ankle injury.
Looking ahead - at Kansas State next week, then Texas Tech, Iowa State and Colorado - A&M has a legitimate shot to have at least six wins under its belt heading into the final stretch with notable games against No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 2 Texas. A victory Saturday also would have increased the Aggies' chances of returning to a bowl game after missing out last season.
"Going into this game our guys had a great week of practice," second-year A&M coach Mike Sherman said. "They worked really hard. We fully expected to win. We didn't, and that's really all that matters. Oklahoma State made more plays than we did to win the football game. That's the bottom line."
Johnson converted two third downs, including a third-and-20 to Uzoma Nwachukwu (eight receptions for 141 yards) to keep A&M hopeful in the fourth quarter. Later he connected with Howard Morrow on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 3:35 left, but the two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 36-31.
The Aggies needed a defensive stop to give Johnson, who set a Big 12 record for most consecutive passes without an interception at 228, a chance to win the game.
They never got it.
Led by quarterback Zac Robinson (14-of-25, 279 yards, two touchdowns), Oklahoma State marched down the field. But with 2:10 left and the Cowboys facing fourth-and-1 at A&M's 40-yard line, they elected to go and ice the game.
Backup running back Keith Toston (26 carries, 130 yards) bulled his way for 2 yards and Oklahoma State had its second victory at Kyle Field since 1983 wrapped up.
"That's a running play we work a lot - we've run it 500 times the last two years," Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. "We just wanted to control our own destiny."
Oklahoma State had seized command when it drove 93 yards in 16 plays spanning 7 minutes, 41 seconds to take a 36-25 lead. The Cowboys converted three third downs, the last being Beau Johnson's second 1-yard touchdown run.
"We just struggled making plays there," Sherman said. "It wasn't explosive plays necessarily, just the nickel-and-dime stuff. Last week we gave up big plays (in a 47-19 loss to Arkansas)."
With A&M leading 15-7 in the second quarter, the Aggies handed Oklahoma State a gift. Defensive back Dustin Harris was in position to pick off Robinson's pass near the goal line, but it ricocheted through his hands right to Hubert Anyiam for a 27-yard touchdown pass.
On A&M's next possession, the Aggies had fourth-and-goal from the Cowboys' 1, but Johnson's would-be touchdown pass was dropped by Jamie McCoy.
A&M converted three of five times in the red zone, turning the ball over downs and missing a 32-yard field goal on the other.
Said Sherman, whose team lost six Big 12 games last year by more than 26 points per contest: "There are no moral victories of playing a close game against a top team, but we have next week to get ready for and we've got to go do it again next week."
The Aggies play Saturday at Kansas State, with the kickoff time still to be determined.
